SAMCRO: 1995-2008
by Jpcthunder
Summary: Starting in 1995, this is the story of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original and Jax Teller until the start of the first season. Including how Jax and Tara met in high school, how Otto ended up in Stockton, and more. Not a great summary but please read and review.
1. Patched

**Chapter 1:**

It was a pleasure to ride!

The freedom that came with it and the thrill of the breeze brushing past your face, the road, and the infinite possibilities that accompanied it. Cars, trucks, all other automobiles were just a blur to the rider. It wasn't about the destination, it was about the ride. It was living free, if it was only for a few minutes, or hours.

It was the only way to live free in Jax Teller's mind.

The seventeen year old was riding down Main Street, smirking at a pair of girls jogging down the sidewalk. He was clad in baggy dark blue jeans, a wallet chain hung from his right side. A large leather vest was draped over his shoulders, the dark leather gleamed in the sunlight of the early Californian morning. On the back of his cut, on the bottom rocker, the word _PROSPECT _could easily be seen. He pulled on the throttle of his motorcycle, a Harley Davidson 1991 FXDB Dyna Glide Sturgis. Jax's plaid button shirt blew in the breeze and the checkered navy blue material flapped loudly as the teenager smiled. He couldn't be happier on this particular day. He made the usual turn down Eden Avenue and sped up, pushing forty miles per hour.

The usual fading of houses stopped at the whitish yellow home at the end of the street. Jax pulled into the driveway and parked. The young man unfastened his black helmet and placed it on his handlebars. After putting down his kickstand, he dismounted the bike and walked to the bright red front door. He rapped on the door three times, hard. A large, aging woman answered the door.

"Hey Mary" Jax said to the woman as she ushered him inside. Mary closed the door firmly as Jax entered "You eat already Jax? I made breakfast." She walked over to the counter next to the sink and grabbed a large platter.

Jax smiled again "No I didn't, thanks." Jax sat down at the table, where he was presented with a large plate of eggs, bacon, and sausage. He picked up a fork and bit into the sausage, juice from the pork burst onto his tongue as he did so. "Is Op up yet?" Jax asked as he picked up a piece of egg.

Mary was scrubbing at a dish at the sink, she paused to light a cigarette. "He just stepped out of the shower, he should be ready soon."

"Cool" Jax said as he continued to eat his eggs, which seemed like the best meal he had ever eaten today.

Harry 'Opie' Winston walked in a few minutes later, his large figure crowded the hallway as his broad shoulders. There was still water dripping from his beard, which was very long and thick for a sixteen year old. Opie's long red hair was quickly covered up by a beanie hat. The same cut that Jax wore, almost identical to his best friends, was being slung over Opie's arms and across his shoulders. "You're up early." he addressed Jax as he sat down with him, offering his fist, which was swiftly bumped by Jax.

"So, today's the big day?" Opie said as he dug into his own breakfast.

"Hell yeah" Jax smirked for the third time this morning and took a sip of orange juice. "I'm finding it hard not to want to ditch today."

Opie looked at his mother, busy at the sink "I know what you mean…"

Mary scoffed loudly, "Don't you dare" she said to him "Go to school, use your brains, or you'll end up like your father." She warned.

"With emphysema?" Opie laughed loudly.

Mary scoffed again "Smartass" she pulled Jax's empty plate away from him as he thanked her. The young man stood up. "We're gonna be late if we don't start heading out, bro"

Opie tried to scoop the rest of his eggs into his mouth as Jax tapped him on the shoulder. He frowned as he discovered bacon grease in his beard. Jax knocked on the open front door loudly. Opie pushed his chair out "Yeah yeah I'm coming"

Opie mounted his own bike, a Harley Davidson XL 883, and turned on the engine, which roared furiously from the heavy modification. Jax had already started down the street and Opie hit the throttle hard to catch up. "Your excited today huh?"

Jax shrugged his shoulders, "I just wanna get this bullshit over with and get to the best part of the day."

"Amen, bro" Opie laughed as they cruised down Maplewood.

They continued to ride together until they reached their destination: Charming High School. The parking lot was bustling with activity when they pulled their bikes into the school. They parked in the front, ready to slide out of the lot as fast as possible after the last bell rang.

Opie pulled his bike into the spot next to Jax "I almost forgot" he said as he pulled an envelope out of his saddlebag. He handed the white paper package to Jax after stepping off his bike. "Happy birthday bro." Jax smiled again and clasped Opie's hand, he brought Opie in and smacked him on the back hard, a quick embrace.

"Thanks Op." Jax looked inside the package, two hundred dollars, in mostly tens and singles. "You didn't have to, this is a lot man."

"You're my brother" Opie said as they walked into the school, brushing others past as they did so "Your worth it." He laughed as they walked through the hallway, "And besides" Opie said as they stopped at Jax's locker "This is a special birthday for you."

Jax grabbed the lock wheel and spun it. After two unsuccessful tries, he slammed his head against the locker lightly. "Ugh damn it." He swore

"You kidding me man?" Opie chuckled

"I'm not here enough to remember it well" Jax shook his head and sighed. Opie pushed him out of the way, still laughing, and opened Jax's locker for him.

"How do you…?" Jax started, then sighed once more "You know what, just forget it." He tossed the envelope into his locker along with his cut and pulled his knapsack out of it. He slung the straps over his shoulders and followed Opie through the hallway. "I swear man, as soon as I'm patched, I'm wearing that cut everywhere."

"You aren't wearing it now" Opie walked into their homeroom.

"Apparently 'gang' colors or uniforms are not allowed at CHS." He laughed. "Board of Ed don't know the difference between a gang and an MC."

"AND neither are HATS, Mr. Winston" Their homeroom teacher, Mr. Morrissey, interjected into their conversation. "Take it off" he commanded.

"Up yours." Opie said under his breath as he slid the beanie cap off of his head.

Jax laughed "You should have said that out loud, would have been pretty amusing."

"I already have detention again today" Opie sighed "It's like prison."

Jax pulled a piece of paper out of his bag and started scribbling "How many hours today?"

"Two, plus two more on Tuesday for Jessica"

"I told you the worst possible place to make out is behind the stairs." Jax said as he continued to draw.

"Right," Opie nodded "I guess I'll follow your lead and take the next girl behind the bleachers."

Jax smirked "I said make out, not get laid."

Opie laughed loudly and smacked the desk, he made sure that Mr. Morrissey was gone before sliding the hat back on his head. "Your something else you know that right?"

"Just don't try it during football practice," Jax tapped his pencil on the desk, "the whistle messes up your concentration."

The bell drowned out Opie's emmense laughter this time. Homeroom was quick to end, and Jax and Opie were off to their first period, American History, the only class Jax was exceptional in. On his way out, he tossed the piece of paper he was doodling on into the trash basket.

Mr. Morrissey reached down, grabbed the paper and sighed, a large logo was drawn on the scrap paper. A grim reaper, with a black robe, a M16 rifle, with a scythe attached, drawn to look razor sharp. A large globe with a huge A drawn inside it, and huge lettering that read:

SONS OF ANARCHY

Clay Morrow was having a hell of a day. The plumbing was wrecked again, another pipe had burst and they were lucky if the septic tank wouldn't blow. They would have to restock the bar soon, which could cost more than $500, with the combination of beer, scotch, tequila, gin, rum, brandy, and the grain alcohol they saved for disinfecting 'accidents'. The club goes through hundreds in booze every six months, with a drink after every church. With all of this going on, now had been the time Michel MacKeavey had decided to tell him about a missing shipment of AKs. Clay was going to have to wait to sell off the AKs to the One-Niners, which would upset the gangbangers a great deal.

"CLAY" The proprietor of Teller-Morrow Automotive turned to face one of his brothers, Filip 'Chibs' Telford. The Scotsman was wearing his SOA cut over a brown leather shirt, stained with whiskey and cigarette ashes. He brought a hand to his unkempt brown hair and pushed it back. A pair of sunglasses rested on his brow.

"Chibs" Clay nodded at his friend, "What's in the bag for today's shitstorm?"

The European native clicked his tongue and thought, "We gotta ride up to Oaktown for a meet wit the 'Niners. Then, we gotta go pick up Happy, the crazy bastard gonna stay in Charming for a while after a hit he did in Tacoma. After that, we should head back here and get ready for Jackie-Boy's thing."

"Almost forgot that was today" Clay said as he walked to the bar. The SAMCRO President reached down and grabbed a beer bottle from the large mini fridge below the bar. The bottle made a loud _hiss _as he twisted the bottle off, and Clay let out a sigh of relief after his first sip. "He's excited huh?"

Chibs let out a small laugh "The boy been bouncing off the walls for a month." Clay handed his brother his own drink.

"And what about Opie?" Clay asked "How much longer?"

"Bout another month or so." Chibs said after he took a long gulp from his drink.

"Alright" Clay nodded. "Let's handle the 'Niners." He got up and started to walk out. The aging man was about to push open the door when his phone rang, a loud irritating ring. Clay pulled the large clunky phone off of the clip on his belt. After thirty seconds, the phone was still ringing. Clay pushed several different buttons rapidly. "Shit, how do I answer this damn thing?" He asked Chibs.

Chibs let out a small chuckle and clicked a button on the mobile, the one button Clay hadn't pushed. "It's 1995 brother, time to get with the times." he laughed.

Clay let out a non audible curse word to Chibs and brought the phone to his ear. "Hello?" he waited for response. "Okay" he growled into the phone quickly before hitting the _End _button. Clay's face grew visibly angry as he threw the phone back into the clip. "Well shit!" he swore.

"What happened?" Chibs asked before downing the rest of his beer.

"The Mexicans attacked the 'Niners" Clay scowled. "Their guy who was backing our deal on their end got capped. The deals on hold."

"SHITE" Chibs cursed loudly. "That was a $20,000 deal brother."

"Yeah," Clay swallowed the rest of his Budweiser, "I guess we're getting Hap a little earlier than we planned."

"I'm sick of eating this slop" Jax set his tray down on the table next to Opie. "This isn't even qualified as real chicken."

"Well then why don't you just bag it to school?" Opie asked as he dug into his own brown paper lunch.

"I guess I'm just lazy" Jax laughed and picked up his fork. More people joined them at the table, more girls than boys. Penelope, a girl Jax had met in his Algebra class, was seated at his left, while Opie took up the empty space on Jax's right side.

Halfway through the usual fighting, food throwing, and teenage debauchery that was lunch, Jax found himself dazed. Across the cafeteria, sitting at a large table in the corner, was a girl. Jax Teller had seen many a girl in his teenage years, but this one was different. Long brown hair, pearly white skin, a smile flashed across her face, revealing icy white teeth. She was wearing a tank top, with stripes of red and black, along with a pair of white jeans that hung to her hips tightly. Jax was memorized, she seemed so innocent, and yet, the playful way she conducted with her friends said more about her real character.

"Penelope?" Jax nudged the blonde on his left on the shoulder. She turned to him "What?"

"Who's that?" he pointed to the brunette across the cafeteria.

"Oh" Penelope swept her hair back "That's Tara Knowles, she just transferred here from Stockton HS" she took a bite of her pizza. "She actually lives in Charming" Penelope told him. "She's been going to Stockton for some extracurricular shit they had, but the funding stopped so she started going here."

Jax was bewildered "How do you know all this?"

Penelope shrugged "I get around" she stated and went back to her lunch. Jax looked at Opie and gave a look that said _I bet she gets around in more ways than one_. They shared a silent laugh together.

Jax was seated in his Chemistry class, tapping his fingers on the small desk. His Chem teacher Mr. White, was rambling on about molecules and Jax couldn't concentrate in the slightest. His mind was racing in anticipation of tonight's event, and there was no point in listening to his teacher now. This was the last period of the day, and was the subject Jax was doing worst in.

"Remember boys and girls, the smallest part of a compound is a…?" he asked

"A molecule" The class responded, obviously bored and tired after the long day of education.

Mr. White turned to write something on the blackboard. Jax took this opportunity to scribble down a note and nudge the person next to him. The girl turned her head to Jax, who pointed across the class to Opie.

"Jackson" Mr. White whipped around faster than a wheel at 90 mph. He sauntered over, past row after row of desks to Jax, stopping methodically in front of the blonde teenagers desk. "Would you care to share what you have written to Harry with the rest of the class?"

Jax took a short breath and sighed "Not particularly Mr. White." He leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. Jax's dutiful teacher plucked the note from the desk and read out loud.

"Do you think Chelsea Whitman stuffs her bra? If so how much?"

Mr. White dropped the piece of paper back on the desk and silently walked back to his desk as the class erupted in laughter. A small girl in the front of the class, two seats away from Opie blushed bright red and pulled her shirt up sharply.

"The Sons of Anarchy" Mr. White mouthed as the bell rang "What are you going to do?" he sighed. The class was up and out of the door in an instant. Opie and Jax practically ran out of the room, dying of laughter.

The two best friends ran at the stairs. Jax mounted the railing and slid down fast. He landed with a smooth plop and they continued down the hallway. Jax was able to open his own locker this time, and grabbed his cut. "This will be the last time bro." he shook the cut and smiled.

"Amen" Opie nodded and slapped him on the back. "Let's get to the clubhouse"

"So I was doing the dirty deed, and all of a sudden…"

"Wait wait, do we even want to hear it?"

Alexander 'Tig' Trager was standing with his fellow club members outside Teller-Morrow Automotive. Tig was a large man, his muscles bulged out of the button up shirt he was wearing, and his black hair was sticking in all directions. His cut boasted a unique patch _SGT. AT ARMS_. Tig was recalling a certain event with two different women, one that, by the look of his brother's faces, was outrageous in detail.

To Tig's left was Robert 'Bobby Elvis' Munson, a heavy set man, with brown hair dangling all over his face. He had five O'clock shadow on his cheeks as well. Bobby's cut had the patch _SECRETARY _stitched into it. Which meant that he was in charge of all of the clubs finances, including run funds, stocking the bar, and collecting dues. Bobby was growing a large gut, and was pushing two hundred and fifty pounds.

To the right of Bobby Elvis was Otto 'Big Otto' Delaney. Otto Delaney was the current Vice President of the Sons Redwood Chapter. Otto wore a black bandanna around his head, to go along with his black hair. He was currently chewing on a heavy Cuban cigar and laughing with the rest of the boys, he stroked his thick goatee as Tig went through his story.

Tig was about to continue when the three heard the roar of approaching bikes. Jax and Opie came rolling into TM at high speeds, Jax had a huge grin on his face as he came riding in. Bobby, Tig, and Big Otto yelled at the pair as they parked their bikes, and Chibs could be seen exiting the garage as well, yelling just as loudly at the two friends.

Jax dismounted his bike and ran up to Bobby, who stretched out his arms wide. "Happy seventeenth my boy" he shouted at Jax. Jax clapped Bobby on the back hard before breaking away. He did the same with Big Otto, Tig, and Chibs before they started walking back towards the clubhouse. The SOA Clubhouse smelled and looked like it usually did. The place smelled like booze and women, along with gunpowder and motor oil.

The table in the church room. It was a holy item, where all of the club's decisions were settled on. A large reaper was set in the center. The table was a gift from a local artist by the name of James Anderson. It was carved out of 100% real California Redwood. Clay walked out of the meeting room and chuckled slightly at the sight of Jax. "Today's the day." He said, hugging Jax and clapping him on the back softly. "Sit down and have a drink." He said to the two minors.

Jax chuckled and sat down as Opie rounded the bar. Opie grabbed a bottle of scotch from under the bar and set it on the table with two glasses. Sure Opie was 16 and Jax had just turned 17 himself, but it was a huge perk to be part of an outlaw motorcycle gang. Jax swallowed down a shot and poured himself another. The members of the Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original walked into the chapel room one by one after downing a shot. Bobby was the last to enter and the last to sit down, he closed the doors and took his seat on the left side of the table.

Clay took a deep breath before speaking. "We all know what we decide tonight, but before we get started I got some things to say." The President coughed and lit a cigar. He looked to his VP, Big Otto. At Otto's left was Bobby Elvis, who was picking pieces of bread out of his beard. To the left of Bobby was 'Uncle' Tom Whitney, who's brown hair was draped down his shoulders and behind his chair, the hair almost obscured the FIRST 9 patch on his cut. The seat directly across from Clay wasn't occupied, but the smell of Piermont 'Piney' Winston, Opie's father, was very potent even in his absence. On Clay's right sat Tig, the SGT. AT ARMS was always seated at the right of the President. Next to Tig was the Scotsman, Chibs Telford. Finally, the last chair was occupied by Happy Lowman, a bald man who wore the same cut as the rest of the bikers, but his patch read TACOMA instead of Redwood Original. Happy was an attack dog from Tacoma, Washington. Yet, although he was from Washington, he had very tan skin.

"We had a problem with the 'Niners today" Clay said "I got the call this morning." He took a long drag off his cigar. "The 'playa' we made contact with in the One Niners got killed in a drive-by" he let the information sink in as the rest of SAMCRO groaned "Which means…" Clay set his beer down "Our deal is on hold… maybe permanently."

"Wait" Tig interjected "Who killed the 'Niner?"

"It was the Mexicans" Chibs said, shaking his head "The goddamn Mayans, those pricks."

"So how do we move on from here?" Big Otto asked as he lit his own cigar. The smoke drifted up to the ceiling and dissipated. "Retaliation?"

Bobby sighed. "Wasn't our guy who got clipped." He said stroking his goatee. "If we start killing wetbacks we'll start a war."

"More like restart," Tom Whitney said "Mayan war just ended two years ago."

Clay stopped them all. "Look, we can find another buyer soon, either the Triads or somewhere else. What we need to worry about now is what we're going to do with all the guns now. We have another delivery from the Irish in two days that's going to double our stock, and we have nowhere to put 'em"

"We could drop some of them off at my sisters" Tig said.

"Your sister would be okay with having AK-47s in her house?!"Otto asked, astonished.

"I never said she would know about it" Tig said honestly. The table erupted in laughter as the entirety of SAMCRO chuckled at Tig. Clay clapped Tig's hand "Don't worry Tiggy, we'll figure something out."

Clay changed the subject. "On to tonight's scheduled entertainment, Jax" The rest of Clay's brother's let out small nods and appreciative glances as Clay continued "Vote has to be unanimous." He took a drag off of his cigar and put it out. "Yay" he said as he turned his head to Tig.

Tig took a few seconds "Yeah"

Chibs was ready immediately "Hell Yes"

"Yes" Happy said resoundingly.

"I'm a yes" Tom said, nodding his head

"Oh yeah" Bobby told everyone

"Defiantly yes" Otto said sharply

Clay took up the gavel in his right hand and slammed it down hard on the block. "It passes." He nodded at Chibs, who rose and pushed open the door.

"Jackie-Boy" Chibs beckoned for Jax to join the rest of the club. Opie put his hands on Jax's shoulders and smiled. He brought Jax in for a quick hug. "Get in there" he said to the blonde.

"Jax" Clay said to the prospect after the door was closed. He stood up and walked to the safe at the end of the room. He turned the dial softly, letting the clicks reverberate across the room. He grabbed a leather cut from the safe. It was generic, a leather jacket with the sleeves cut off, except for the SAMCRO patch on the back, with the top and bottom rocker. "Take off the Prospect cut"

Jax smirked as he took off the cut and handed it to Tig. Jax's mind was racing as he stared at the full patch. Clay picked up the cut and had Jax turn around. The President slipped Jax's arms into the cut. Jax shrugged his shoulders in pride and took a deep breath before turning to face Clay.

"Welcome to SAMCRO"


	2. Shit Got Wild

**Chapter 2: Shit Got Wild**

"Ugh"

Jax's eyes snapped open sharply. "What the hell…?" He was laid out on the bar; his new cut gleamed in the florescent lights of the clubhouse. He was clutching a bottle of tequila in his left hand tightly. Jax sat up and scanned the room. Tig was sitting in the corner of the room, his pants around his ankles and his boxers half off. He was crammed on the floor between two women, a blonde and a redhead. Bobby was in a similar state on the couch next to another girl. Everyone in the room was passed out. "What the hell happened last night?" Jax asked out loud.

"Shit got wild" a voice interrupted his thoughts. Jax spun around and saw Otto standing there with two mugs and a pot of coffee. "Get up and drink some coffee kid."

Jax groaned as he rose, bringing life back to his stiff limbs. His white tennis shoes hit the floor with a loud _CLOP _as his feet slammed against the ground. Otto led him into the chapel room, the only room in the clubhouse at the moment that wasn't occupied by passed out members or half naked croweaters. Otto took his usual seat at the VP spot and Jax picked a chair on the right side of the table, diagonally across from Otto, the seat Happy was sitting in the night before. It was the seat Jax would be taking when Happy left, since Happy was a senior member of the club, Jax had to sit on the outer chairs near the wall until Happy went back to Tacoma. Jax pulled away the leather seat and took a minute before sitting down. _I've waited so long to sit here, at this table, in one of these chairs_ he thought as he was handed a cup of coffee.

"What, you got a date?" Otto asked Jax, laughing "Sit down"

Jax sat down and sipped at his coffee. "So, what exactly happened last night?"

"You don't remember?" Otto ripped open a packet of sugar and poured it into his coffee. He dipped a finger into the hot coffee and twirled the sugar around.

"I remember getting patched in" Jax said as he rubbed his tired eyes "Then a bunch of croweaters showed up, we did shots of tequila, Tig shot a couple of bottles out of the air with his Glock, you went home to get something and then it's all fuzzy from there."

Otto laughed and swallowed down half of his coffee. "Clay told me he wanted to see you later, and that Gemma called."

"Oh god" Jax laughed. "I didn't tell her I wasn't coming home"

"Yeah she's pissed" Otto told him. "So have you thought about what you're going to do about school?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your seventeen years old Jax" Otto said "You're the youngest member SAMCRO's ever had and your still in school. It's gonna be hard juggling academics and club responsibilities at the same time."

"I'll make it work" Jax said confidently "It'll work."

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself." Otto smirked at his new brother.

"I guess I am." Jax told him "Did I get laid last night?"

Otto laughed and slammed his hand on the table "Your underage Jax"

"That hasn't stopped me from joining the club"

Otto smirked "Even a croweater doesn't want to be labeled a child molester."

"Where's Clay, I'll go see him now" he downed the rest of his coffee and stood up slowly and steadily. Otto rose with him "He's in the back bedroom."

Jax opened the door and saw that Tig and Bobby were rising. "No baby, you don't have to go" Tig growled at the croweater who had got up and was walking towards the door. He looked at the other girl next to him, the redhead, he squeezed at her breast lightly and seemed to go back to sleep. Bobby on the other hand, was picking up the girl he was with and carrying her out the door.

"BOBBY" Tig shouted out the door, startling the redhead. "MAKE SOME BANANA BREAD"

Jax scoffed at his friends and walked past the bar into the hallway. He stopped in front of the motorcycle in the hall. It was his father's bike, the bike that he had died riding. It had been sitting in Jax's garage for seven months after the accident. Jax had been an emotional wreck, with the death of his brother then his father piled onto his shoulders. Then Opie decided to visit. On the one year anniversary of John Teller's death, Jax and Opie brought the rebuilt bike back to Teller-Morrow and had it placed in the hallway. Two weeks later, on his sixteenth birthday, Jax went to Clay to prospect. Now, a year later, it felt amazing to stand by the bike with his new cut on.

Jax walked down the hall towards the last bedroom. The door had a large plate on it that said _PRESIDENT_. The club's President, VP, and Sergeant at Arms all had permanent rooms of their own at the clubhouse, though all of them had their own apartments and houses. There were two other spare bedrooms for members that needed them. "Clay?" Jax knocked on the door twice.

"Come on in kid." He commanded through the door. Clay was sitting at the foot of the bed, holding a metal case in his hands. "Jax" he said to his youngest member. "I've got something for you." He placed the metal case on the computer desk. He opened up the case. "In our…" he paused and looked for the correct words "…Line of work, things don't always go as planned."

"Automotive repair?" Jax asked and chuckled.

"You are just like your father." Clay laughed with him "Always a smartass" he pulled a rag out of the case and started to hand it to Jax. Jax reached for it and Clay pulled it back. "Listen; in our line of work, people get hurt. Now, taking a life is never easy, but sometimes it's necessary. These belonged to your father; he would have wanted you to have them."

Jax took the rag and placed it on the bed; he unfolded the cloth and pulled two items out. The first was a Colt 1911 handgun; Jax heaved it in his hand and checked it over. He pulled the slide back and looked into the action. The second item was a Marines K-Bar Tactical Knife. Jax picked up the knife and pulled it out of the sheath. The blade was dark, so that it wouldn't gleam in the sunlight. Jax traced his finger over the serrated edge. "Wow" he said as he put the knife back in its scabbard and undid his belt. He looped the knife through the belt and hung it on his hip. Every member of the Sons of Anarchy wore some kind of knife on their belt, mostly hunting and Army knives.

"Your dad carried those in 'Nam" Clay told him "Your grandfather used that pistol when they stormed the beach in Normandy. And now your gonna be able to use them to defend this club."

"Thanks Clay" Jax said as he hugged the older man, patting him on the back. "Really, thanks"

Clay sat down on the bed again. "I need you to ride up to the cabin with Opie, wake up Piney. Tell the old man I wanna see him, got some shit to discuss. Then get home before your mother chops my head off."

Jax nodded and Clay handed him the metal case, there were several clips of .45 ammo in the case. "Go and get a holster for that too. Tig should be able to hook you up."

Jax threw the pistol in the case and walked back out to the bar, he saw Tig and Bobby in the kitchen. Bobby was mixing batter into a blender and Tig was standing over his shoulder, directing his every move. "So when's it gonna be ready man?"

"Tig" Bobby shook his head "If you ask me when the banana bread is going to be ready one more time, I will dump this batter on your head and never make it for you again."

Jax laughed as he walked over to the fridge. He pulled a milk carton out of the metal box and put the case on the counter. He opened the carton and took a long swig. "Hey" Bobby said, grabbing the carton from him and pouring it in the batter. "I need that."

Jax tapped Tig on the shoulder. Tig turned, still glancing at Bobby out of the corner of his eye. "What?"

"I need a holster, for a .45. Clay said I could ask you."

"Yeah, sure thing man." He turned and dipped his finger in the batter. "Tomorrow"

"Okay, thanks." Jax said as he left the kitchen while Bobby slapped Tig's wrist.

* * *

Opie knocked on the cabin door five times. "Dad" he called out. After one minute, Opie pulled a key out of his pocket and shoved it in the keyhole.

When Jax and Opie walked in, they were treated with the smell of whiskey again. Overturned portraits and pictures of Piney and the First 9. The table had been flipped over and several guns had fallen to the ground.

"Dad?" Opie called out "You in here"

"Yeah" a voice called back. Piney walked out of the bedroom, his cut ruffled and his balding hair disheveled. His cut revealed a bare spot, where _V. PRESIDENT _used to be. Piney was just as big as Bobby, with a large gut protruding from his shirt.

"How you feeling Piney?" Jax asked

"Like the VP patch was taken from me and given to Otto just before you joined." Piney had wanted to give Jax the Vice President position when he joined, but unfortunately, Clay had said that he was too young a member right now to become the VP and had to earn it. The patch was tossed between Otto and Tom Whitney, but ultimately, Otto got to stitch it into his cut. Piney had believed that Jax could handle the VP spot, but even Jax admitted that it would be too hard having a Vice President in high school.

"Relax Dad." Opie commanded "Otto deserves the seat. It's cool"

"Ugh" Piney groaned as he pulled the table up and readjusted it.

"Clay told me to tell you he needs you at the clubhouse. Has to talk to you about some shit." Jax grabbed a bottle of water off of the table and chugged it down.

"Did he say what?"

"No" Jax said "Probably something to do with the 'Niners, got to vote that."

"Yeah, ugh, I'm sorry I missed your thing last night kid. I was ugh…"

"Passed out?" Opie suggested.

Piney laughed and smacked his son on the shoulder. "Yes indeed." He walked out of the cabin and locked the door. He hugged Jax "Glad to see you made the cut Jax, your father would be proud of you."

All three of them mounted they're bikes and rode down the dirt trail back to the highway.

* * *

"This is bullshit and you know it Clay." The leader of the One Niners said in anger to the President.

"I know, Tre, I know" Clay said as he crossed his legs. He and Tre, the head of the 'Niners, were sitting in a park in Oakland. Tig, Otto, and Bobby were sitting at a bench not far from them, and the 'Niners that had accompanied Tre were seated on another bench. "Look, if you just finalize the payment…" Clay started

"Hell no" Tre said sharply. "Jake was the smart one, he was the one handling your deal. Everything died with him, your deal is on hold Clay."

"Now listen to me Tre…"

"No, you listen to me, bitch!" he shouted. "You ain't in Charming right now, this ain't ya goddamn clubhouse. If I tell you ya deal is on hold, you will sit your cracker ass down, shut your mouth and listen."

Tig could see the anger in Clay's face building up, and at first thought Clay was going to shoot Tre in the head. "Tre" Clay said, "Buddy, pal" Clay wiped sweat out of his eye "I only want to help you, see, we're gonna find the Mayan that killed Jake, we're gonna get rid of him, and then we're gonna talk guns. Is that cool?"

"All right" Tre said "When the Mexi asshole that killed my boy is six feet under, we can talk business."

"You got any idea who this wetback was?"

"I got a few." Tre told Clay "Asshole wasn't wearing a cut, but we caught the Mayan artwork on his bike. He was wearing a hoodie that had a logo for Emilio's Chili Dogs up on 7th. We figured that the SOB must be turning Oscar-Mayers in his spare time."

"So, what?" Clay asked "You want us to barge into a restaurant and start shooting in the middle of broad daylight? We're not gangsta dawgs."

"Your pushing the line again Clay" Tre eyed the President. "You find a way to get that bastard, or you ain't ever selling gats to my crew ever again." He got up and walked away, his boys trailed off after him.

"I totally thought you were gonna mess his shit up" Otto said as Clay walked back.

"Maybe" Clay said "Too bad we need this deal. They want us to kill the Mayan."

Bobby shook his head, "We just said yesterday, at the table, that going at the Mayans right now will start another war."

"That's why they can't know it was us." Clay smirked and got on his bike.

* * *

"Mom?" Jax called out as he opened the door to his house. He looked around the kitchen and found a mug of coffee. There was steam rising from the cup, and it had just been poured.

"Jackson" Gemma Teller walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. The 37 year old widow still looked as young as she did at 25, with a flat stomach, tan skin, long black hair mixed with blonde dye. The most distinguishable trait Gemma had was the long scar that trailed her upper chest, between her breasts. She was born with a heart defect that all of her family possessed, including Jax.

"Mom, how are you?"

"You could have called before you stayed at the clubhouse you know."

"Sorry, I got wrapped up after school."

"Oh my god" Gemma gasped, "It was yesterday wasn't it?"

Jax grinned and turned around, revealing his full patch to his mother. He swung back around and was kissed on the cheek. "Congrats baby. I knew you'd be patched soon."

"Thanks" he sat down at the dining table and leaned back. Taking a deep breath, he rapped his fingers on the wood "Are you going to TM today?" he asked Gemma.

"No, I think I'm gonna go out with Luann today, gonna get lunch, do some shopping."

"Alright" Jax said.

"What about you?" Gemma set a plate of pancakes in front of him and kissed the top of his head. She took a seat and drank her coffee.

"I'm going back to the clubhouse; I'll probably get Op first. I'll see if Clay needs anything."

"Planning on getting any homework done?" Gemma asked sarcastically.

"Screw homework" Jax said, "I'm gonna graduate for sure, but we all know I'm not exactly going to excel academically."

"Just don't grow up stupid, you hear. Your father never had a real education you know."

"And he died being hit by a semi and dragged a 178 yards. Not of hunger. Dad did fine for himself. Look at TM."

"Whatever, I don't want to talk about your dad right now. I'm gonna go meet Luann. You eat your breakfast."

"More like lunch" Jax said "It's almost twelve."

"How we gonna do this?" Otto asked his President outside the chili dog restaurant.

"I don't know yet" Clay told him, "I'm trying to find a way to make sure they know it wasn't us or the 'Niners. If we can divert the blame, we can avoid a war, and if we can keep the heat away from Tre's crew, we might have a chance of still selling them the Irish stock."

"So that we don't have to double up on storage." Otto finished.

"Exactly" Clay continued.

The restaurant was too occupied to go in and gun down the Mexican in plain sight. The chili dogs were obviously very good. Tig walked out of the restaurant and took off his sunglasses. "They got a camera in there too; the tape is behind the counter, still too many witnesses."

"There a camera on the outside?" Bobby asked.

"No" Tig told him "There's a street cam down the road, but I doubt it could ID us."

"So" Otto said "We have to start from the outside."

"Let's take the bikes into the back alley" Clay said. They moved their motorcycles into an alley a few blocks off. Otto came back alone, with a heavy brick. After scanning the street for cops, he got the Mayans attention.

"HEY, YOU WETBACK BASTARD!" He screamed through the open doors. He tossed the brick into the window, shattering it and sending glass into the store. Several of the restaurant's patrons yelped and screamed as the glass shattered, and the sound of a crying baby was heard. "SCREW YOU, YOU BROWN PIECE OF SHIT!"

The Mayan was out the door when Otto rounded the corner. Otto darted across the street and dodged a Toyota. He dived over the hood of the car and slid off of the roof. He continued to run at the alley. Otto sprinted into the alleyway with the Mayan quick on his tail. Otto rounded the corner and broke into a dead run. Slowing down and allowing the Mexican to catch him, knowing that Clay and the others were hidden behind the dumpster. The Mayan grabbed Otto and pushing him against a chain link.

"You white trash PUTO!" he slugged Otto in the lower stomach as Clay and Tig rounded the dumpster.

Tig took a hold of the Mayan's tee shirt and threw him against the fence "Easy there Jose Conseco" Clay said as he reached inside his cut. The President pulled out a silenced Beretta and shoved it into the Mexican's chest.

Otto stood up and spat on the Mayan "You hit like a girl."

"You killed Jake Lerone" Clay said "The 'Niner on 9th street, two nights ago."

"What?" The Mexican said "You?" he looked at the patches on Clay's cut. "GODDAM SONS"

"Not so loud there amigo" Tig said, pulling at the Mayan's hair.

"You killed Tre's man, and you screwed me in the process." Clay accused. "You I hope you've been forgiven of your sins." He said, noticing the catholic cross that hung around his neck. "Adios" Clay fired his gun into the Mayan's chest four times, piercing his heart and sending blood everywhere. The silenced gunshots seemed to ring in their ears just as loudly as they would have without the suppressor.

Clay pressed his gloved hand into the Mayans neck, feeling his pulse and smirking. "Give me the picture Tig."

Tig pulled a piece of paper out of the pocket of his cut and handed it to Clay, along with a stapler. Clay pressed the paper into the Mayans head and with a sharp _click_ stapled it into the Mayan's flesh. "I can only imagine the look on Alverez's face when he finds this." Otto said, laughing. On the paper was the picture of a Chinese symbol, the symbol for death. Otto had found it in the library in Oaktown and ripped it out of the book.

Clay smiled as he rose "When Alverez finds this guy, he's gonna go to war with Lin. We're gonna go back to Tre and he's going to want our guns. When the Mayan's strike against the Triad, Lin's gonna come to us for firepower. We can sell all of our Irish stock, and we'll be set for quite a while."

* * *

"The hell happened to you boys?" Chibs asked as Clay, Otto, and Tig walked out of the setting sun and back into TM's garage. Chibs was ripping an engine from a red Dodge's block when he saw the blood on Clay's sleeve. "You three look like you've had a hell of a time, huh?"

Clay scoffed and helped Chibs pull the engine out of the car. "All that matters is that we can sell off those AK's to the 'Niners."

"OH" Chibs yelped at Clay and bumped his fist, "Way to go brothers, bout time we got that cash."

"Church" Clay told Chibs; "Tonight" he pulled his cell off of his belt and clicked a speed dial. "Make sure everyone knows" he said to Otto before raising the mobile to his ear. The phone rang six times before someone answered.

"Hello"

"Hey, Gem, it's Clay"

"Hey handsome." Gemma said "Calling for Jax or me?"

"Can't it be both?" Clay laughed and walked back towards the clubhouse.

"Jax just left for TM. I was walking in when he headed out"

"Okay then, I'll wait for him."

Gemma grabbed the leftovers she got from her lunch with Luann and placed them in the fridge. "Are you coming over later baby?"

"I can if Jax isn't going to be there."

"Oh come on" she moaned.

"Look Gem, I'd rather just let it settle for a while" Clay explained.

"We told each other we were gonna get married."

"Not yet"

"Then when?" She stammered as she sat down at the table.

"Soon, I wanna let Jax settle into the club before I spring anything major on him. Give me a few months"

"Months?"

Jax was starting to pull into the TM lot. The roar of his motorcycle clouded Clay's thoughts as the young man rolled into his parking space. Jax put down his kickstand and dismounted his bike, placing the helmet on the handlebars and walking over to Clay.

"Hey I gotta go, I'll see you later." He hit end and stowed the phone on his belt. "The prodigal son graces us with his presence." He said to Jax, raising his hands into the air. "You speak to Piney?"

"Yeah" Jax said. "We rode from the cabin back onto the highway. He said he needed gas, he stopped at the station and we kept going. He's not here?"

"He never showed up." Clay looked around the lot. "Anyone seen Piney?"

* * *

**Three Hours Ago**

Piney Winston had just stopped riding with his son and his best friend's son. He had finished gassing up his ride, and was riding on the high way. All he could think about was his newest brother. He was proud of Jax. He could remember the day he was born. Hell, he could remember the night he was conceived. They had yet to settle in Charming, and they were a nomadic chapter. They rode up and down California, up into Oregon and Washington. On the rare occasion, they rode into the desert, in the east.

"_Welcome to Vegas baby" Lenny Janowitz yelped as they spotted the city. Lenny Janowitz was the third member to join Sons of Anarchy. He had long brown hair that raced down to the middle of his back. Unlike most of the club, he had no beard, and was clean shaven. He had a cigarette burning in his mouth and had a second one lined up to light. If only he knew his three pack a day habit would lead to throat cancer. Lenny sped up, breaking rank and accelerating to almost ninety miles an hour. He roared past John, the chapter President, Piney the VP, and Clay the Sergeant at Arms._

"_He's excited huh?" John asked his friends as Gemma clutched tighter to his midsection. Jax was the spitting image of John. The only difference was the blond hair Jax possessed._

"_It's been a while since he got laid." Piney chuckled and scratched his beard. Unlike in the present day Piney was in tip top shape. He was still a soldier at heart, and kept a strict work out regiment. Piney was a monster, standing at least at six three, before his bad back caved in. Piney was all muscle. _

"_When was the last time any of us have been?" John asked Gemma mockingly. _

"_Your not exactly selling yourself sweetheart" Gemma kissed the back of his neck, just below the hairline. She glanced off to the left, where Clay was eyeing them. Upon the sight of Gemma looking, he turned his head and revved off toward Lenny._

"_Has Clay ever broken rank before?" Piney asked JT._

"_No"_

_SOA rolled into Vegas, the flashing lights and strip club signs blasted out onto everyone's faces. "This is my kind of city" Clay said as they rolled past another casino. It was 1977 and Vegas was the single craziest city in the west. Crazy fashions, crazy hair, crazy people, it was a wild time. Piney and JT decided to hit up a biker bar. _

"_Come on man" Lenny pleaded with John "I love the life, but all we do is go to biker bars." He circled John and Piney "Let's hit up the casinos man, hit this shit, one of us could be walking out of here a millionaire."_

_Piney laughed "You hear that John, a millionaire!"_

"_What could we buy the club with a million bucks?" John asked his Irish friend, Keith McGee _

"_A few golden bikes?" McGee offered, laughing._

"_Maybe a swimming pool filled with chocolate?" Piney wondered_

"_How about a thousand color TVs?" John asked Lenny._

"_Oh come on guys"_

"_Sorry Lenny" JT said "We don't have money to blow in a casino"_

"_TWENTY TWO BLACK" John yelled at the table "TWENTY TWO BLACK"_

_The ball rolled past twenty two and landed on red. "Shit" JT swore as the rest of the table groaned. Piney placed a hand on John's shoulder. John stole a glance "How did we end up here?" he asked Piney._

"_One string of bad decisions to another my friend." Piney said. _

_JT was about to place another bet when Gemma walked into the room. She was wearing all leather, leather pants, a leather jacket, leather boots. She had specifically let the jacket's zipper pull down, revealing much more cleavage then she should have. She held a bottle of champagne in her hand._

_She walked up behind JT. "I just found out this place is a hotel." She growled in his ear. "You should cash out. She strutted across the room and back into the lobby. _

_John glanced at Piney. "Well go you SOB, I can take over here." He said to John._

* * *

Piney smirked as he remembered the next month, the realization of Gemma's pregnancy, relocation to Charming, John and Gemma's wedding, where, for weeks before, him and Clay had fought over best man privileges. In the end, it ended up going to Clay. Clay was the best man; Clay was JT's successor as President, not him. It took Piney a while to realize he was driving.

A screech of tires, a scream, the honking of several horns. "SHIT" Piney swore as his bike swerved. He struggled to control his ride as he tumbled away from the other cars. His hands rattled as he reached for the brakes. Piney swerved right and hit a rock.

He was thrown from his bike with force, going clean over the handlebars and over the grass on the side of the freeway. Time seemed to slow down for Piney as he flew away from the road. He landed roughly on a patch of dirt and rocks. The older man felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as he groaned. He could taste blood in his mouth. "Damn" he swore as he tried to raise his arm to feel his head. When he tried to move his hand, he felt like he had been stabbed in the arm. Piney moved his right hand to the back of his head. He could feel wet blood.

_Wet blood_

That was his last thought before passing out.


	3. Nothing

**Chapter 3: Nothing**

"Anyone seen Piney?" Clay asked the entire parking lot. Opie walked out of the clubhouse, his boots pounded on the pavement as he strutted over to Clay.

"My mom just called me." Opie said to Clay "My dad's been in an accident on 18, flew over his handlebars, they rushed him to St. Thomas."

"My god" Jax said "How is he?"

"Cracked his head open." Opie struggled to say "I don't know what's going on now, my mom didn't tell me much."

"Let's go" Clay said as he rounded up Chibs, Tig, Bobby and Otto. They were on their bikes in less than two minutes. Clay took the front, as the President always did. With Otto to his right and Tig to his left. Uncle Toms's bike roared behind Otto, and Chibs behind Tig. Bobby and Happy rode side by side, Jax and Opie directly behind them.

They arrived at St. Thomas Hospital ten minutes later. St. Thomas was the one and only hospital in the Charming area. All of the members of Sons of Anarchy had been inside for medical care at one point or another. Opie lead the charge into the hospital, marching to the front desk and demanding his father's room from the secretary. They took two separate rides up the elevator with the MC being too big to go all together. Opie ran down the hall with lightning speed to room 189. "DAD?"

"Be quiet." Mary said to Opie as he entered the room. Piney was laid out in the hospital bed, connected to machines with wires and tubes. He was unconscious, and didn't seem to be waking up anytime soon. His heart beat was still steady, but the bloody bandages wrapped up against his head didn't bode well.

"What happened?" Opie asked his mother as the rest of SAMCRO flooded the room.

Mary shook her head "People who were there said he flipped over and smashed his head on a rock."

Opie plopped down in the chair next to his mother. "Damn" he said as a small tear rolled down his cheek.

Jax walked over to Piney _We just saw him a couple of hours ago_ he thought _He looks so goddamn frail_. Jax grabbed Piney's hand and squeezed lightly. "He's gonna be fine Op."

* * *

It was Monday again, the most dreaded day of the week.

Tara Knowles was sprawled out on her bed. When the alarm went off, it felt like a dull throbbing pain to her. She switched it off as she got up, rubbing her tired eyes and standing up straight. Tara walked out of her room and into the hallway of her small house in Charming, California. She stretched out her arms and yawned as she turned to the bathroom. Locking the door, she finally straightened her back and looked in the mirror. Her long black hair was scraggly and all over the place. Her eyes were puffy and red, and when she tried to breathe through her nose, her breath was nasally and harsh. She was sick, and she hated being sick. Why did she hate being sick? Because she still had to go to school. Her father was passed out on the couch, too drunk to stand, and wasn't going to call in to excuse her absence. It was a choice between dying in a classroom or losing credit for a day the administration thought she skipped. Tara was an academically able student, and didn't want to risk it.

She pulled off her tank top and shorts, she threw her underwear in the hamper and stepped in the shower. After a short, cold shower, she couldn't decide if she felt better or worse. The teenager wrapped a crisp clean towel around her body and walked back to her room.

"Please tell me I didn't forget to do the laundry." She said as she looked inside her drawers for anything to wear. She had to settle on a pair of denim shorts. Tara struggled for anything else, the pants weren't exactly school appropriate. When she looked for a shirt to go along with them, she got lucky. An extremely oversized tee shirt one of her father's old Led Zeppelin concert shirts. Tara slipped the tee over her head and found that it the black shirt fell almost to her knees.

"Tara Knowles gets bonus points for creativity" She told herself, smiling. Her smile turned into a scowl when she walked into the living room, her dad was laid out on the couch, snoring deeply with a can of beer sitting next to him.

She ate a small breakfast, two pieces of toast with a slice of cheese in between them. She would have made something more elaborate, but besides beer, bread, cheese and salami, all that was left in the fridge was mold.

Not bothering to wake her father, she snatched her sandals from the floor. Tara stepped into the garage and grabbed her keys from the hook on the wall. She walked past her father's car and wished she could drive it. The Cutlass was a slim black form of American muscle that Tara wasn't allowed anywhere near. She got to drive quite possibly the crappiest car in the entire town of Charming. Tara's Pontiac Grand Am was rusted, the wheels needed air, the engine was fried and Tara didn't have the money to fix it.

* * *

Tara's mouth formed a scowl again as she came into view of Charming High School.

She had spent two and a half entire years and Stockton High, and never had set foot in Charming HS. Her only friend Katie, she only got to see during lunch. Tara wished she could go back to Stockton, but since the medical intern program was killed by budget cuts, her father saw no incentive to her commuting almost an hour when there was another school ten minutes away. On top of everything, her chemistry class was being moved as well, so she would have to throw away the entire week of friendliness in that class she spent trying to get people to like her and shift it to this new class.

She pulled into the parking lot and was forced to park in the back. With all of the spots in the front taken. It was eight fifteen, she was going to be late. She turned left and entered the outskirts of the parking lot. She thought she finally caught a break when she saw an empty spot. When she was about to park, a red Toyota swerved into her parking space.

"BITCH" she yelled at the blonde girl who exited her car and started walking towards the school.

* * *

She had almost made it through the day, almost. It was time for the most dreaded part of the day. Her new eighth period chemistry class.

Tara slowly made her way to room 245 on the second floor. The stairs felt like torture as she grinded her feet on the floor. She was the last one to enter the room. The teenager opened the door as the bell rang.

"Oh" the teacher at the front of the class said "I almost forgot, we have a new student."

Tara walked to the teacher's desk. "I'm Tara" she said as he scanned a piece of paper "Tara Knowles?" he confirmed.

"Yes," She said as she bounced on one foot from another. Every eye seemed to be on her as she looked around for an empty seat.

"Okay Tara, I'm Mr. White" he shook her hand "The only empty seat I have is in the back, right there" he pointed at an empty seat next to a blond boy in leather. He was tall, even sitting down, Tara could tell that he reached six feet. A chain dangled off of his desk and was wearing the baggiest jeans possible. He had a leather vest on over his plain white tee shirt and his blonde hair was swept back behind his ears.

Tara walked back to the desk and set her bag down on the floor. She looked around at her neighbors and grabbed a notebook and a pencil.

"You wearing anything under there darlin'?" a voice asked.

Tara turned to look at the boy on her right. He had the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen. He had a thin beard growing from his chin and cheeks. _He's actually kind of cute._ Tara finally realized he was looking at her funny. "Um" she stammered. "I ugh… I'm" Tara felt all the blood rush up to her face and she turned beet red. "I'm… I'm wearing shorts. Does that bother you?"

He laughed and chuckled softly, "No, nothing wrong with that baby."

"Baby?!" She said loudly, much louder than she meant to.

Tara heard a loud cough and the boy turned his head away from her, everyone else in the room turned to her. "Miss Knowles" Mr. White said "What do babies have to do with compounds?"

Tara found that blood was rushing to her head again. "Well, when… I…" she found herself turning to the blonde boy "There's a… nothing, Mr. White… nothing." He finally went back to his board.

Tara was exasperated, she turned back to the blonde boy, who was laughing hysterically.

* * *

"Give it back Tig" Happy yelled angrily as Tig walked away from him.

"Give what back, my tan skinned, psychotic assassin friend?" Tig asked innocently.

"It was the last one Tig" Happy said "It was the last one in the box, I had my name on the box, Trager."

"I have no idea what you're talking about man" Tig said as he turned and walked away. Tig slid his hand into his pocket.

"It's in your pocket you SOB" Happy lunged at Tig, knocking over a bottle of beer at the bar and tripping Happy's intended target. Tig pushed at Happy, trying to get him off.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jax walked into the clubhouse shaking his head. Chibs was walking out of the chapel room at the same time. "Whoa boys" he chuckled and scoffed, "What's happening lads?" he asked as he pulled Happy off of Tig.

"He took it!" Happy said "He took it."

"Took what?" Jax asked

"The last Twinkie" Happy said with scorn.

"You guys are fighting over a Twinkie?" Chibs asked with disbelief.

"Yeah" Happy said "It's a cream filled delicacy."

Jax laughed as he walked into the Chapel Room to find Clay. Sure enough, the SAMCRO President was sitting at the head of the table with Otto. "What's up?" Jax addressed Clay as he walked into the room.

"Shit keeps piling up." He said, looking over a set of documents. "We're about to ride out to San Francisco to meet with Henry Lin. Can you come along?"

"You don't have to ask Pres."

* * *

Tara was sitting in bed, reading her chemistry book, refusing to get over what had happened in the class. Who did that blonde asshole think he was? Some kind of king?

Tara was wrapping his head around elements when she heard a knock on the door. "Tara?"

"Yeah dad?"

Her father opened the door. His hair stuck up wildly and his shirt torn. He wasn't even wearing pants. "Did you buy beer?"

Tara sighed "I'm sixteen dad, I couldn't buy beer even if I wanted to."

"Oh… right" he turned around and stumbled back into the living room.

The phone by the bed started ringing soon after that, Tara reached over and grabbed it from it's cradle.

"Hello"

"Tara, it's Katie."

"Hey Kate, what's up?" Tara closed the book and set it on the nightstand.

"Well, me and some friends of mine were gonna take a ride out to San Francisco. Get dinner, do some shopping. Can you go?"

"Well, gee Katie I don't know… I got a lot of homework and I'm just really busy right now."

"Busy doing what Tara?" Kate asked. "Besides, the clothes you were wearing today, you need a serious wardrobe fix"

"Your being delusional. I have plenty of nice clothes." Tara stammered.

"Honey" Katie pleaded "All you wear is ratty tee shirts and rattier jeans. How are you ever gonna get a boyfriend if I don't help you?"

Tara laughed "Maybe I don't need a boyfriend"

"Now look who's being delusional." Katie laughed "Meet us outside your house." She hung up

Tara shook her head "Here I come, San Francisco."

* * *

**Shorter chapter this time, but I decided to break this chapter and the next one in half instead of one big one. I wanted to put Jax and Tara's first meeting in one chapter and then put what happens in San Francisco in the next one, which should be up soon. **


	4. Frisco

**Chapter 4: Frisco**

Gemma walked into Saint Thomas Hospital at around four in the afternoon. She was going to see Piney, she had a large bundle of flowers in her hands. The biker queen walked into the elevator and pressed the up button, taking the metal cage into the upper floors. She reached Piney's room and found Mary still sitting by his bed.

"Mary" Gemma addressed Piney's wife with the slightest scowl on her face. The aging woman placed the flowers in the vase by the bed.

"Gemma" Mary said back with an equal amount of scorn.

"I suppose you intend to wait on Piney hand and foot once he's awake."

"I intend to leave when he wakes up." Mary said plainly.

"You're going to run off to another cheap motel while you leave your son to fend for himself?"

"No" Mary said "I'm running off to another city, and I'm taking Opie with me."

Gemma almost threw the vase against the wall. "What!" she turned to Mary. "He's got less than a month left until his prospect term is over!"

"Exactly" Mary stood up. "Op is less than a month away from turning up just like his father!"

"Are you kidding me, Mary?" Gemma yelled "Opie is turning seventeen, not seven. He can decide where he stays!"

"No he can't." Mary yelled back "Opie is underage, he is a minor, and until he turns eighteen, I WILL decide where he lives! And you can be damn sure the court is going to be giving ME custody!"

"Opie'll come back" Gemma screamed at Mary. "He'll always come back, no matter how far you take him away, he'll come back to his REAL family" Gemma turned and walked back towards the door "And you can be damn sure of that" she said, opening the door.

"Bitch." She added as she walked out, leaving Mary with Piney and his life support machines.

BREAK

It was an hour and a half ride to San Francisco. The dry Californian air blew in the breeze as Jax, Clay, Tig, Bobby, and Otto road down the highway. Naturally, being a Monday, the city wasn't bustling, but there was enough activity on the street to turn a few heads.

They arrived at Lin's Chinese restaurant at around five. The restaurant was obviously in full swing, with dozens of patrons bustling about, ordering and eating.

"We come here for chow mein?" Jax asked Clay as they took off their sunglasses and riding gloves.

Clay laughed "This is Lin's front, pretty good one too."

"Yeah I prefer TM" Otto said as the host walked up to them.

An obviously Chinese man, wearing a suit and tie, and slicked back hair, walked up to them. "Mr. Morrow." He gave Clay a slight bow. "Mr. Lin is expecting you" he said "This way." He pointed them past a tank of koi fish.

"Lin's guys bow?" Clay asked himself turning to Tig. "Why don't you start trying that out?"

"Funny, asshole" Tig chuckled as Clay walked past the host, into the VIP area.

The members of SAMCRO were treated to a sight of red drapes and carpets adorned with Chinese symbols. Jax peered into the kitchen window and saw one man flipping noodles in a wok. Several people were breaking open bottles of Chinese liquor. Jax suspected it tasted as bad as it smelled.

Henry Lin was a Chinese businessman and head of the Triads in the San Francisco area. He had the same black hair as the rest of the Asian people in the room. He was wearing a crisp clean white suit over a black shirt. Lin wasn't very big or strong, but the men standing next to him suggested he didn't have to be. He held his hand out for Clay to shake as he and the rest of the SOA walked to his table.

"Clay, always good to see you" Lin took out a pad and pencil and wrote something on it.

"Henry" Clay said back, taking a seat at the large table "You remember Bobby Elvis"

"Bobby" Lin nodded as the large man smiled slightly at him.

"My Sergeant, Tig" Clay said. "And of course, my VP Otto."

"I remember" Lin said as he put his pencil away.

"And, uh, this is Jax" Clay told him, clapping a large hand on Jax's shoulder. "JT's kid"

"Kid is right" One of the men standing by Lin said "What are you, like twelve?" he asked Jax, mockingly.

Jax didn't take that lightly, nor did any of the members next to him. The teenager stood up and grabbed the man by the collar, pulling him over on his stomach and onto the table. "What did you just say to me, asshole?!"

The restaurant grew eerily silent as Jax pulled on the man's shirt even harder. Despite his age, Jax was a very strong man, with years of experience at the small workout room in the clubhouse. Jax had been exercising with Opie since they were both fourteen, making them both just as strong as any other fully grown man. The man's leg bumped into a dish of beef and a salt shaker, sending both of them onto the floor, causing them to break.

"Let him go Jax" Bobby said, grabbing him by the shoulder. Jax released his grip on the Chinese man and he fell to the other side of the table again, struggling for air.

Lin said something in Cantonese, and the man nodded and got up, walking away into the kitchen. Lin extended his hand to Jax "Sorry about that."

"Yeah, it's cool." Jax said as a waiter came over with a broom, sweeping up the pieces of broken porcelain and glass.

Clay laughed "So, Lin, hell of place you got here." He said, grabbing a rice cracker off of the table, dunking it in duck sauce, and popping it in his mouth.

"It's a pretty decent money maker itself." He said "I'm thinking of starting one in Charming actually."

"Excuse me" Clay said harshly, eyeing Lin with growing tenacity

Lin chuckled "Purely food service" he told Clay "No H"

"We'll talk about it." The President said. "Now, you called us over here for a reason right?"

"Yeah" Lin said. "There's been a problem."

"Yours or mine?" Clay asked.

"Mine" The Chinese man picked up his chopsticks and plucked a piece of chicken from his dish. "But I defiantly could use some help."

"What happened?" Clay asked as he denied a glass of Chinese wine.

"A Mayan was killed in Oakland." Lin said "Someone stapled a Chinese symbol into his head. So naturally the wetbacks assume its us."

"Jesus" Clay feigned surprise and scratched his head.

"Yeah, you said it. One of my guys got clipped this morning on the way here."

"So what do you need from us?"

"My usual gun pipeline dried up, idiot got arrested on some bullshit smuggling charge." Lin said "We're working on getting him cleared of everything, but all the red tape is crushing us."

"You need guns" Clay said "That could be arranged."

"Yes" Lin grabbed a napkin and wiped his chin. "Normally, I would wait and use what we have for protection. But with a war going on with the Mayans, there's no way we can get by without some new toys."

"How many 'toys' do you need?"

"It ain't about quantity, I need quality. I've got enough shitty Chinese pistols to arm a small country. Say what you want about Russia, but they make a hell of a gun. I need AK's, a lot of them."

"I've got a shipment coming in from overseas. I could get you about two dozen of Gorbachev's best."

"That's nice" Lin said "But I still need more, the Mayan's are coming at us from all fronts, and I want to keep business afloat, which means I need as many armed guys as possible."

"Okay" Clay nodded "I can throw you some Glocks, ten maybe" Clay scratched at his beard. "I could try to get you some MP5's, a dozen of those."

Henry extended his hand to shake. "Thanks Clay, you saved me a lot of trouble. Whoever set us up with the Mexicans, they got another thing coming to them."

"Hope you catch em' Henry" Clay took his hand and smiled.

BREAK

"Bitch" she added as she walked out, leaving Mary with Piney and his life support machines.

Gemma walked down the hallway toward the elevator, getting in the box again and going back to the lobby. Right when the door was about to close, she heard a voice call out. "Hold that elevator." Gemma shoved her hand in front of the doors as they closed, pushing them back open.

A familiar man walked into the metal cage and stopped. "Oh, Gemma, it's you"

Wayne Unser is the Chief of the Charming Police Department. The forty-something man, was clad in the same uniform the rest of Charming PD wore, the only exception being the gold badge he wore on his right breast pocket. Unser had just recently been appointed chief by the city council, with the previous chief, Chapman, having passed away two months ago.

"Wayne?" Gemma asked puzzled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, just a few tests" Unser said hesitantly.

"Just a few tests?" Gemma asked "What's wrong?"

"I ugh" he stammered "I have cancer, Gemma"

Gemma felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. "Oh my god Wayne" she brought her old friend in to hug him and squeezed tightly to his back. "I'm so sorry" she said as Unser tapped her on the back softly.

"It's okay, Gem" Unser said as he broke away. "It's fine"

"It's not fine" she snapped as the elevator came to the ground floor. "Where is it?" she asked as they walked into the lobby.

"It's in my liver" Unser said solemnly.

"Jesus" Gemma stopped and sat down on a bench.

"Doctor's say that, I ugh." Wayne stopped "I could have almost ten or twelve years with treatment and chemo" He sat down next to her, groaning as he did so "But I guess I didn't really feel like dying at fifty eight."

Gemma put an arm around his shoulder. "It's gonna be okay Wayne." She rubbed his shoulder "You're gonna be just fine. You're gonna live well into your ninety's."

"Yeah, I suppose" Unser said glumly "I don't think so"

"You can't be like that Wayne" she slapped his chest.

"I knew my luck had to have run out sooner or later."

"What?"

"All those shootouts and close calls. Becoming chief so quickly." He shook his head "It's just crazy."

"Stop it" she said "Your too good of a man to die so young"

BREAK

"Are you out of your mind?" Tara screeched as her new friend merged into the left lane, almost colliding with a tanker truck.

"Relax" the girl, Alex, said as she turned on the radio.

"It's hard to when your holding on for dear life." Tara said as sounds of Nirvana filled her ears.

Tara was sitting in the middle back seat, smashed between her friend Katie on the right, and another of Katie's friends, Nicole. Alex, the crazy driver, began banging her head to the music. Tracy was sitting in the passenger seat. "Will you quit it with this crap Alex?" she held her hand to her head. "Giving me a headache."

"This is a great band" Alex said as she pushed down harder on the accelerator.

"They're not even a band anymore."

"That doesn't mean they're not good."

Tara sighed and tried to peer out the window past Katie. "What's wrong?" her friend asked her.

"It's just kinda cramped back her" she lied. She didn't want to be there, on an hour long drive to a city she'd never been to. Besides Kate, Tara had nothing in common with the other girls. She didn't feel like talking about boys, she wasn't into music, and she would rather have been anywhere else at the moment.

The party arrived at San Francisco later. Right upon entrance of the city, Tara noticed a large museum with marble stairs. She looked at the sign and wondered what was inside. As soon as she was about to open her mouth to say something she shut it. These weren't the type of girls to go to museums. With that in mind, Tara found herself in an upscale clothing store in one of San Francisco's biggest shopping centers.

"So then I told him, if he wanted to screw something, he could go screw himself." Alex bellowed out loudly as she recalled a story with her boyfriend, which elicited laughter from the other girls.

Tara faked a smile and chuckled slightly as she grabbed a pair of jeans off of a table and examined them.

"What about you Tara?" Tracy asked "You got a boyfriend?"

"Um, not at the moment" she stammered out quickly.

"Well" Nicole laughed "We'll have to change that."

Tara mouthed the word no and turned away. Alex slung an arm around Tara's shoulders and smiled "A girl as hot as you has to be tied down by someone" she said

"Stop it" Tara laughed and pushed Alex off of her.

"Yeah" Katie said "Stop it. Let's go get dinner."

They paid for their clothes. They meant not Tara. The few dollars that Tara had saved up weren't worth spending on new clothes until she grew.

BREAK

"Chinese food?" Tara asked as they pulled up in front of an Asian restaurant.

"Yeah" Kate said "I can smell the dumplings from here" she pushed the car door open and slid out of the car.

Tara wasn't very picky about most food, when your father is a drunk who doesn't eat more than pickles and salami, you learn to enjoy good food when you get it.

"Evening ladies" the host smiled at them and showed them to a table, a large corner of the restaurant reserved for parties of five or more. Tara grabbed a menu and started scanning items. _Jesus Christ, some of these dishes cost more than my car_ she thought to herself as she looked for a decent meal.

"Can you believe what Jessica Dumas said to me this morning?" Katie asked Tracy while the waiter brought water over.

Tara was losing intrest in the conversation fast. She didn't want to be sitting in the restaurant with thousand dollar prices and cheap Chinese decorations. She sort of liked her new friends, then again, being here didn't feel like her. She felt like she should be at home, nose deep in her homework, worrying about school the next day.

Halfway through ordering, everyone heard a loud clattering coming from the other side of the restaurant. Plates shattered on the floor as Tara turned her head to look at the commotion. A man was pulling another man over a table by the shirt, essentially choking him. This table was surrounded by men in leather vests, all either laughing or trying to calm their friend down.

"What the hell" Alex whispered as they looked over.

The strangest thing was, Tara knew the assaulter. It was the blonde boy from her chemistry class, the one who had gotten her in trouble with her teacher.

"Oh my god" Nicole said "That's Jax Teller."

All of the girls besides Tara gave a small gasp, some of them even giggled. "Who is that?" Tara asked "He's in my chem class."

"Jax fucking Teller" Nicole pretended to faint

"He is absolutely gorgeous" Alex grabbed onto Nicole shoulder.

Katie swooned as well "The things that I would do to that boy"

Tara focused on Jax as he released the Asian man. She looked at the leather vest he was wearing in detail. The top rocker read SONS OF ANARCHY. "Sons of Anarchy" Tara said "Jax is in SAMCRO?"

"Just got patched in if gossip serves" Tracy smirked "I'd like to trade places with his bike if you know what I mean."

The table erupted in laughter. Tara let out a small smirk and a chuckle as well. _He is pretty handsome_ she smirked again to herself and took a sip of her soda.

BREAK

"Alright boys" Clay said "It's a long ride back to Charming, let's finish our sushi and get on the road."

Tig coughed and raised his hand slightly "Um, sushi's Japanese, Clay"

Otto laughed as Jax turned to Tig "How do you know that?"

"Good to know when your trying to bang a Japanese chick" Tig chuckled and said something in a foreign language. Jax and Otto almost fell over laughing as Tig spoke small bits of broken Japanese. Clay mearly shook his head and got onto his bike.

"CLAY" Lin walked back out and waved the president over.

Clay dismounted his bike "Work is never done" he walked back over to the restaurant. Meanwhile, Jax noticed the large group of girls walking out of the building. "Wait a minute" he said as he recognized them. The one that stood out the most however, was the girl in the back of the group.

"What you know them?" Otto asked

"Yeah, they go to my school" Jax lit a cigarette and took a long drag off it. The girl in the back was the same one from his chemistry class, the new girl. _Tara, that's her name._

Tig let out a loud whistle "Please tell me the blonde one in the middle is eighteen."

Otto and Jax turned to give Tig a look "No" Jax said "That's Alex, something or other. Don't worry, she's a croweater in the making brother. Just wait three years tops."

Otto laughed "I see you eyeing the brunette in the back"

"Maybe" He pushed himself off of his bike and walked across the parking lot to the five girls. His personal swagger he naturally developed over the years worked like a charm as he strutted over to the red convertible.

"Oh my god" Katie squealed quietly "He's coming over here"

Alex was the first to react, walking to the other side of the car and almost pushing Tara out of the way. Alex pulled her shirt down and hiked her shorts up in an attempt to look more attractive. "Hey Jax" she nodded to him and smiled.

"Hey Allie" Jax hid a smirk and called her by the wrong name on purpose. Her face and demeanor died as Jax shot her down.

"Ladies" Jax pulled a carton of cigarettes from his cut and offered it to them. "Smoke."

All of them really did smoke, except Tara that is. The other four girls took a cigarette from the carton and lit them with their own lighters. Tara hesitated at first, but then succomed to peer pressure and grabbed the cigarette from the box. Katie handed over a lighter and Tara brought it to her mouth.

"Tara, right?" Jax asked her. She looked up and smiled meekly "Yeah"

"I wanted to say sorry for chem class today." Jax smirked "Couldn't resist picking on the new girl, know what I mean?"

"Oh" she laughed with him "It's cool"

"Maybe I could make it up to you." He offered "Tomorrow? Burger and a movie?"

Tara was so stunned she didn't react until Katie elbowed her. She quickly snapped back to reality "Yeah, sure, defiantly" She attempted to light the cigarette again.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow"

And with that, Jax was back on his bike and headed back to Charming with the rest of his club. Tara watched him ride away and finally took a breath.

"Tara" Katie said "Stop trying to light the filter."

Tara swore and threw it on the ground as they got back into the car.


	5. Arma

**Chapter 5: Arma**

"Just tell me exactly what happened."

"It… it all happened… so fast… I really don't remember… that well."

"Take it slow dear. At your own pace"

"Alright"

"I came in for my shift, around 8 in the morning. The whole day felt off, tense, it was the last day before everyone went on break for the weekend. I stepped over to my teller to get ready for the morning. I did some paperwork and filed it. Had some coffee around 9:30 and ate. That's about when it happened. Then, after that, everything got strange. Paul, the security guard, he heard something from around the corner. He turned to walk down the hall; I didn't figure it was anything out of the ordinary. Then I heard gunshots."

"How many?" the officer asked "How many shots did you hear?"

The female voice sobbed "Two very quickly, like… bang bang… then another three drawn out, so I think five. I heard a body hit the ground, and I knew it was Paul, he had a wife and kid." The girl cried again as she recounted the events to the police.

"I ducked down under my desk when they came it. They were screaming and yelling at us, pointing their guns at us. I thought one of them would kill me. It was… I was so scared."

"It's okay," the male office soothed her. "Keep going."

"One of us, one of the other tellers, hit the silent alarm." The girl sobbed again. "One of the robbers saw him do it. He shot him in the head, twice. Then he spat on him."

"What about the robber on the ground?" the police detective nodded at the dead man in the ski mask. "How did he die?"

"One of the customers" she recounted. "He had a gun too; he pulled it from his jacket and shot the robber."

"Richard O'Malley, we ran his ID" The officer stated "The rest of them shot him on the spot?"

"Yes, they freaked out, and started arguing with each other. Over the money, over what they were going to do. Then the police showed up, and they ran out the back door."

"Okay" The officer said, rising out of his chair and nodding at the girl "They did get away, but you've been a big help Jessica, thank you. You're a very brave girl. If you remember anything" he pulled a small card out of his jacket. "Don't hesitate to call."

Jessica took the card and smiled "Thank you Detective Rodriguez"

Detective Jesse Rodriguez stepped away from the poor girl. Figures she came in on her day off and had to witness a bank robbery. Jesse walked to the forensic specialist, Thomas Markson. "Tommy" he addressed the man. "What do we have here?"

"Tell you the truth Jesse" he said "I am way more interested in this gun than the dead robber." He picked up the rifle and examined it with his gloved hands.

"This guy is a lowlife," Rodriguez said "Where did he get this kind of firepower?"

"This is a military issue M4 carbine version of the M16A2. Chambered for 5.56x45mm NATO rifle cartridge. These just started shipping to the US Military last year, these are brand spanking new."

"Jesus Christ," Rodriguez said "Are these guys robbing banks or going to war?"

"See this" Markson said as he pointed to the under barrel. "These marks, there was an M203 Grenade Launcher attached to the barrel, that is some serious hardware."

"Get Stockton ATF down here" Rodriguez said to his partner. "We gotta find these guys, and the first step is finding the gun salesman."

Agent Peter Waller was called up to Lodi the second he entered the office. A bank job, a big one, several robbers with automatic weapons killed three people and stole $750,000. "I'm Agent Waller, ATF" He took off his sunglasses and pocketed them inside his cheap suit jacket.

"Lodi Police, Detective Rodriguez" The local detective shook his hand and led him into the bank. "Agent, we have several homicides and an empty bank vault. They were packing huge rifles, military grade."

"Looks like one big turkey shoot" the ATF agent noticed all of the bodies, and was ushered farther back into the bank.

"Yeah, a civilian gun owner pulled a SIG and killed one of the thieves. They didn't take him alive" The detective pointed to Richard O'Malley.

"That's too bad, too many 2nd amendment idiots trying to be heroes."

"That's a positive outlook to take on four men gunning down someone who was trying to protect over twenty people." Jesse scoffed at the Agents brass.

"You call it protection detective, I call it stupidity." Agent Waller squatted down next to the dead bank robber and slipped on his rubber gloves. He heaved the gun into his hand and checked it over. "Nice gun though. Can't complain with military issue. Don't have to have good aim when you're holding 30 bullets in the magazine. You've recorded all the specs on this right?" he asked Markson, who nodded.

The agent slid the magazine out of the gun. He pulled back on the charging handle and the last remaining round flew out of the gun. He picked up the ejected cartridge. "This is unmarked ammo, no stamps or maker's marking. Whoever supplied these guys defiantly knew how to disappear."

"So you can't trace it?" The detective asked.

"Well, I can ask around, I have a few snitches in the area. I might need a phone."

"Get the man a phone" Detective Rodriguez snapped at Thomas, who quickly returned with a cell. He handed the ATF agent the phone, who dialed a number.

"Johnny" The agent spoke into the phone after the third ring. "I've got three dead at a bank in Lodi, the guys were carrying military grade M4s, and I need to know where they came from."

"Christ Waller," the voice said back "I'm in too deep with you already man, my friends will butcher me if they ever found out."

"I'll make sure you get butchered in prison if you don't give me what I want."

"Fine" he said "You're gonna get me killed."

"Alright" Waller said a few minutes later, "Alright, that's great, stay out of trouble." He hung up.

"Do we have a potential lead?" the detective asked.

"Charming" The agent said "Time to move to the small town."

* * *

"Man, screw school" Jax stated as he walked into the clubhouse with Opie

"It helps if you pay attention" Opie cracked open a soda and handed it to Jax, before opening one for himself.

"Like you actually do work." Jax laughed. "All I'm saying is that if I'm gonna be part of this club, I'm not gonna need a high school education."

"So drop out" Opie took a sip from his soda and walked into the back room, where the member's of SAMCRO kept their lockers. Opie's locker contained his mechanic's shirt, with the TM logo and his name on it, a water bottle, a bag of weed, and a small 9mm handgun. Opie hung his backpack in his locker and motioned for Jax to throw him his own. Jax tossed his black knapsack at Op, who caught it and placed it in Jax's locker, which contained his TM shirt, a pin up magazine, a small notebook, and his weapons. Opie handed Jax his holster, which contained his .45 and his knife. Jax pulled off his cut carefully and laid it on the bar, on the only clean spot. The blonde threw the shoulder holster around his arms and adjusted the straps.

"Can't" Jax said as he threw his cut back on "Gemma won't let me, says it's too important."

"Damn" Opie laughed "Gemma?"

"Yep" Jax took a seat at the bar. "Speaking of crazy parents, you hear anything about Piney?"

"He's awake," Opie grinned "And restless, he's already screaming at my mom again."

"Then he's defiantly getting better." Jax said as Clay, Otto, Tig, and Bobby walked into the room.

"Mr. President" Jax grabbed his outstretched hand and pulled him in, clapping him on the back. "What's new in the exciting life?"

"We have some serious problems." Clay said, Jax's face wavered "Of the felonious kind"

"Shit" Jax said "What happened?"

"Save it for church." Clay said, "Right now, I need a drink, badly" Opie poured out a shot of bourbon and handed it to Clay, who downed it quickly and asked for another. "Call Chibs and Uncle Tom, tell them to get over here, we got a huge vote in an hour."

"What about Hap?" Opie asked

"Happy went up to Merida to visit his mom, after that he's going back to Tacoma."

* * *

Wayne Unser sat at his desk, the chief's desk, at the Charming Police Department, looking over incident reports until the sun went down. It seemed like a quiet day; perhaps he could go home tonight and get a good night's sleep. Maybe he could take his mind off the cancer and enjoy the rest of the day. That changed soon however, when Hale walked into his office.

"Chief?" the tell tale knock and distinctive voice gave away the identity of the disturber.

"Yeah" Unser closed the file he was examining and slapped it down on the desk.

David Hale, a two year veteran of the Charming Police, walked into Unser's office. Hale was the definition of clean cut, with a straight hair cut and perfectly ironed shirt. Hale's face was, at 23, distinguished for such a young officer, with a prominent brow and rough jaw line. David's tan uniform was pressed to perfection and his polished badge gleamed in the florescent lights. With Charming being such a small town, it wasn't hard to believe that low level officers met with the chief all the time.

"Hale" Unser sat up in his chair straighter. "What do you need?"

David held up a newspaper "Have you seen this?"

Wayne shook his head "I just got in," Unser grabbed the paper from David "What happened?"

"Bank robbery in Lodi," Hale sat down across from Unser "Three dead, two injured."

Unser skimmed the article and threw it on his desk "What's the importance to us David?"

"I have a friend on the beat in Lodi who was first on the scene. Doesn't say it in the paper, but my buddy tells me the robbers were using M4A1s, Army issue."

"Christ" Unser exclaimed "That's a pretty big deal but, I still don't see why that should concern us here."

Hale almost looked exasperated "Chief, if anyone from San Francisco to Stockton wants high quality weapons, you know who they call."

"Here we go again." Wayne slouched in his chair.

"They call Clay Morrow" Hale snapped "SAMCRO has to be involved in this, sir. Those street thugs couldn't have possibly gotten weapons from anyone else."

"David" Unser started "You are a good cop; you have several high quality arrests under your belt already. But don't think that you can just make brash accusations without even being at the scene of the damn crime."

"Chief" Hale spoke again

"NO" Unser snapped at David "I don't want to hear anything until Lodi detectives start investigating the SOA, until then, you can keep your suspicions to yourself. We have don't have a problem."

* * *

"We have a problem" Clay said as he sat down at the head of the table. "A big, slobbery, heaping, shitload of a problem."

"What slobbering shitload would this be exactly?" Chibs asked with a small laugh as he poked Jax, who had finally been able to take his long awaited seat at the table, next to his Scottish friend, and when he came back, Piney.

"A bank robbery, in Lodi" Tig said as he ran a hand through his jet black hair

"So what does that have to do with us?" Jax asked as he lit a cigarette.

"One of the guys who pulled the job off" Clay stated "His name was Victor Allard. He recently bought ten M4 high quality assault rifles. Guess who the man bought them from?"

"Oh shit" Chibs said "I remember that deal, bout a month ago."

"Yeah well, good old Vic is dead" Otto said "But his friends, they got away, four of them."

Clay lit his cigar and grabbed his whiskey glass "Some righteous gun owner popped Allard in the chest while they were pulling off the heist. Good for him, bad for us. Victor dropped his rifle and his amateur buddies were too stupid to pick it up. Now the cops, and most likely the ATF have a trail of little breadcrumbs leading back to our doorstep."

"Damn" Bobby said "How're we gonna settle this?"

"We need to make that rifle disappear" Otto said, "We need to get into that evidence locker. At Lodi PD."

"We're just gonna march into a police precinct?" Uncle Tom asked with slight laughter.

"We might actually find a use for Unser" Tig said

"He must have someone in Lodi we could get to help." Jax said as he put out his cigarette butt.

"Yeah," Clay said, "Now, to the matter of Victor's buddies."

"Personally, I vote forward on Mr. Mayhem" Tig said.

"Whatever happened to brains before bullets?" Jax asked, pointing to the sign above the table. That elicited several snickers from the rest of the club.

Clay scoffed "Maybe Tig's right. Find and take out the guys before the cops get to em. Or at least make sure they skip town for a while." He put down his cigar "As far as the plan with Unser" he picked up the gavel "Yay"

"Yay"

"Yay"

"Yep"

"Yes"

"Yeah"

"Yay"

"Alright" Clay slammed down the gavel "We're gonna focus on the gun first, then we'll vote on the rest of Allard's crew tomorrow" he looked at Jax "Go visit Piney and get his proxy" he commanded.

"Okay, you want me to stick around tonight?" Jax asked.

"I thought you had a hot date tonight?" Clay smirked as the rest of the club laughed and jeered at Jax.

"I can put it off" Jax said "It's just a girl, the club is the club."

"Nah" Clay said "We'll figure it out, you stay available just in case."

"Yeah" Chibs mocked "Have fun on your little date, Jackie-boy"


	6. Paper

**Chapter 6: Paper **

Tara's head was swimming. How could she have agreed to this? She was going on a date with the boy Kate had said has been unofficially ranked the hottest boy in school since the 7th grade. She hardly knew Jax Teller. What would they talk about? Would it be awkward? What would happen? Where were they going? What were they going to be doing once they got there?

Her thoughts were going so fast she didn't even notice the sound of the doorbell ringing. "Oh shit" she swore as she ran in front of her full sized mirror and checked her appearance. A pair of tight blue jeans, stonewashed, a tank top and over that, a thin blue collar shirt. _Please tell me I look good? _She asked herself.

She ran out of her room to get to the door quick before _Oh my God_. Her father had already opened the door, Tara could only hope that he was a little sober.

"Hello?" her father looked at Jax with a drunken stare.

"Hi" Jax said "I'm here to see Tara."

"Who" Her father hiccupped "Who are you?"

"Jax, Jax Teller." He said, brushing back his long hair.

"Oh shit" Tara's father's eyes widened "Your John's boy right, Jackson?" He laughed and smacked his knee "I remember meeting your dad once outside Floyd's, I ugh knocked over his bike once by accident. He and his friends spent the rest of the hour calling me dickhead and throwing me around in the back alley." His demeanor changed quickly as he reared his head towards Jax.

Tara stepped in between the two and tried to diffuse the tension. "Hey dad, hey Jax. Dad I'm going out with Jax, I'll be back in a few hours, bye." She slammed the door in her father's face after grabbing her purse and sliding away.

"That was a pretty good getaway." Jax smirked. He was wearing a plain charcoal gray sweatshirt, along with baggy blue jeans, stonewashed, just like her own. His long hair was swept back behind his ears like it always was.

"Thanks" she laughed and slung her purse over her shoulder. Tara noticed he wasn't wearing his Sons of Anarchy vest. "Where's your vest thing?" she asked ignorantly.

He took a minute to realize what she was talking about "Oh, my cut. I decided you should avoid the publicity" he chuckled

That's when she got to thinking. What would people think about her going out with a member of the Sons? She brushed off the thought and walked down the driveway with Jax.

"That your ride?" He asked her, nodding towards her father's Cutlass.

"Oh," she sighed "No, it's my dad's"

"It's a fine automobile." He smirked and ran his hand down the hood. She wanted to scream, no one touched the Cutlass, if her dad saw him poking the hood of his car, she would be killed and hung upside down. Metaphorically of course. "So umm, where are we going?" she asked, smiling slightly and putting her hands in her pockets.

"I was thinking we could get a burger" He said with a nonchalant smile, "Then a movie"

"Oh" Tara said, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been to a movie. It was most likely when her mother was still alive. "What movie?"

"Casino" Jax smirked "Heard it's pretty good, it's got De Niro in it."

Tara liked mobster movies enough, but "I'm only sixteen" she stopped. "I can't get in"

"Nobody's gonna bother you with me there." He kept walking over to his… bike.

"You rode a motorcycle here?" she asked, having never been on one or even close to one. She stared at the blackened metal as it gleamed in the sun.

"Of course, I don't have a car." Jax handed her his helmet. "Why? You nervous?"

"No" she strapped the helmet onto her head and walked to the curb. "Of course not"

_Oh boy_ she thought as she sat down on the motorcycle behind him. The engine roared to life and the bike vibrated underneath her. It felt powerful and dangerous, yet exciting at the same time. "Wow" Tara said under her breath as they took off.

* * *

"Wow" Gemma breathed out as she slid off of Clay and lay down next to him. "Damn" she panted.

"Yeah" Clay said, just as exasperated. "I love it when Jax leaves the house" he chuckled as Gemma laughed with him.

"He is going to be gone for a while" She smirked at him. "We can have dinner, maybe curl up in front of the TV, with some hot coffee." The biker queen ran her hands up and down the biker's chest "Your all tense" she noted as she reached his shoulders "What happened?"

"Goddamn idiots we sold some Irish stock to" he confided in her "Robbed a bank in Lodi"

"I saw that on the news this morning" Gemma said, "What are you gonna do?"

"What do you think?" he said grimly "There's only one thing we can do."

"Jesus" She exclaimed "Don't bring my son to some execution" she snapped

"He's a member now" Clay said sharply "He's gonna be wherever the club needs him to be, Gem."

She wanted to say something, to dissuade him or change his mind. Gemma didn't want her son to witness or take part in murder. Sure he would eventually, but he was only seventeen, not even old enough to drink legally. In the end she stayed silent, knowing to make her move with Jax, not with Clay, she would ask Jax what he was doing later. Clay and the rest of the club saw him as an adult already, but Jax was still a boy to Gemma.

* * *

"Are you insane?"

Opie began to clench his fist as his mother lectured, a bead of slick sweat ran down his neck and down his back. "I can't leave"

Mary was persistent however and didn't want to be persuaded otherwise "Op, I am putting my foot down this time. I am sick of your father, he is a drunken criminal." She threw her purse down on the table next to her "When he gets out of the hospital, we're getting a divorce."

The hair on the back of Opie's neck stood up straight and his hands were almost shaking. "What?"

"I'm leaving, Harry" she only called him by his real name when angry or depressed "And I'm taking you with me, away from this cesspit town."

Opie was almost speechless, almost "What… what about my life mom? I can't just leave. What about school? I have friends?"

"You'll make new friends, in Mirada"

Mirada, the name made Opie want to puke "Are you kidding me? What about Jax? I'm his best friend, I can't leave him like that."

"Jax has plenty of friends Opie" Mary shook her head in disapproval. "You can't pin this on him, I feel sorry enough for him as it is, seventeen years old and already in a goddamn motorcycle gang."

"Club!" Opie snapped "I'm not going to Mirada, and I'm sure as hell not leaving my real family"

* * *

Tara watched almost in horror as the man's eyeball popped out. The other large man twisted the handle of the vise and swore excessively. Blood and other bodily fluids streamed from the eye as Tara grimaced. She pulled her face away from the movie screen and tried to think of something other than her eyes.

Jax could obviously see her tense up. "Hey" he whispered to her "You okay?" he asked, nudging her shoulder slightly.

She nodded "Yeah I'm fine" she lied, focusing on her popcorn. Jax nodded as well and turned back to the screen. She had been wrong about him. He wasn't really a big tough biker when it came down to it. Even talking at dinner they had found a connection. When she had mentioned her mother passing away, he had instantly known what kind of pain she was talking about, having lost his father years ago.

Tara couldn't admit that she didn't like him. He was handsome, charming, and funny. He had a swagger and demeanor that exhumed confidence and strength. Tara turned back towards the screen as the thoughts kept coming.

* * *

Otto, Chibs, and Bobby sat outside an apartment building in Lodi. "This is it?" Chibs asked his fellow members. Otto nodded and leaned back into the city bench more. "Yep, this is the apartment Allard was using as a safehouse."

"So how we gonna do this?" Bobby asked.

Otto shook his head, "This is surveillance brother. We're just gonna see if his boys show up, and when they do, we're gonna ask them some questions."

It didn't take long for the men to show up. A large bald man, wearing a purple track suit and running shoes, pulled up in an SUV. The man opened the door and eyed Otto, Chibs and Bobby for a second, then brushed them off as nothing interesting. He opened the trunk of the car, and pulled a large duffle bag from the vehicle, the jagged, poked out edges told the VP that their M4's were sitting inside them.

"That must be im'" Chibs said as the man opened the building's door and entered.

Bobby rubbed his chin "Let's get in there."

Otto stood up and readjusted the pistol, tucked into the back of his pants. "Alright, it's a simple grab, we go in, get the guns, get rid of the guy, then we disassemble the M4's and drop them over the countryside."

The three men walked across the street, making sure no one saw them entering the building. "It's on the third floor" Bobby said as they ascended, always checking the corners for any prying eyes. Bobby panted as they went up the stairs, his weight being an obvious impediment to his physique.

"Your going on a diet Bobby" Chibs laughed as he poked Munson's large belly.

"Screw you" he panted back at the Scotsman as he laughed.

"Get it together boys" Otto said, grinning and pulling a ski mask from his pocket. Chibs and Bobby did the same, also grabbing their guns and attaching silencers to the barrels.

"Let's do this." Chibs said as they approached the door.

Otto kicked his booted foot into the wooden door as hard as he could, breaking it off of the hinges and leaving it wide open. They charged in quickly, pointing their guns at anything they could see. The large man with the bag was walking out of a living room, he saw the three armed men and freaked out, dropping the bag and running.

Otto ran after him, tackling him to the floor and smashing a coffee table. The VP pressed his gun to the man's head and held him there, unable to move. Bobby grabbed the bag and set it on the kitchen table. After making sure the man was incapacitated, Chibs joined Bobby in the kitchen and zipped the bag open quickly.

Chibs plunged his hand into the duffle and pulled out…

"What the?" The Scottish man looked at his friend "Books?"

* * *

**Again, another short chapter, I split this one and another in half. I will continue to work on the next one and come back soon. Hope you all enjoyed this. Please read and review!**


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